Just like in Basketball, Pass and Shot Fakes are an essential skill that beginning players should learn and practice. Here are six ways you can teach your boys and girls to create more opportunities and score more goals!

The best coaches teach players to Pass and Shot Fake from a very young age. It's an easy and valuable skill that players at every level will use! It doesn't take a lot of time to teach, and it's an individual skill that your players can practice on their own at home. Plus, against younger, inexperienced Defenders, Pass Fakes work especially well!

Box Players use Pass Fakes all the time! The Canadians and Iroquois are masters at moving the Defense with Pass Fakes. Players with their sticks up, ready to Pass, Shoot or Dodge all the time ("Triple Threat") are very dangerous and very hard to Defend. They could do anything at any time! Think Lyle and Miles Thompson, or Mark Matthews. Pass Fakes are one of the first skills they learned!

Here's Zach Miller with probably the best Pass Fake highlight from the 2016 NCAA season:

Below are more examples of different game situations where your players can use pass fakes. Pass Fakes work as well as just about any Dodge. Sometimes all you have to do is LOOK a different direction to move riding Attackmen and Midfielders, On-Ball and Off-Ball Defenders out of the way! They can get a player under pressure out of trouble, or they can create exciting offensive scoring opportunities. Your players will love using this simple tool for more success and more fun in games!

1.) SHOT FAKES - MOVE THE GOALIE!

Everybody loves seeing a Goalie make a great save. Everybody hates seeing all that work on Offense go to waste on a bad shot right into the Goalie's stick or body. If your players aren't finishing their opportunities in games, work on more Shot Fakes in practice to move the Goalie one direction, then shoot back in the open space.

Every player should know these classic shot fakes:

Dip and Dunk! Fake Low, Shoot High!

Dunk and Dip! Fake High Shoot Low!

Reach! Fake to the Far Pipe, then Shoot Near Side of the Goal!

Pump Fake! Use the head and shoulders to Fake to the Near Side, then Shoot Far Side!

Box Players are so good at Faking and Finishing because they have to be! Box Goalies take up much more of the Goal, like Hockey Goalies. Using Shot Fakes to move the Goalie in Box Lacrosse is critical. All your Field Lacrosse players should be doing it too!